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Today’s Obvious Note
This just in: Pope Benedict XVI dislikes video games. Who would have guessed?
Any trend to produce programmes and products – including animated films and video games – which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programmes are directed at children and adolescents. How could one explain this ‘entertainment’ to the countless innocent young people who actually suffer violence, exploitation and abuse? In this regard, all would do well to reflect on the contrast between Christ who “put his arms around [the children] laid his hands on them and gave them his blessing” (Mk 10:16) and the one who “leads astray … these little ones” for whom “it would be better … if a millstone were hung round his neck” (Lk 17:2).
No word on if Pope Benedict plans to ever take any action against members of the clergy who “lead astray these little ones” in ways slightly more destructive to their psyches than GTA 3.
“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.” (Matt 7:5)
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about 3 years ago
That picture looks like an excellent way to give young, impressionable kids nightmares around Christmastime. Don’t piss Santa off, kids; you wouldn’t like Santa when he’s angry. Not that I would do something like that, of course…
about 3 years ago
Pope Palpatine: So be it. Developer.
about 3 years ago
Hmmm. This seems like a strange stand to take from a religion that condones child abuse:
And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Genesis 22:2
I suppose if God had commanded Abraham to “Take now thy alt, thine only alt Isaaaackpwnzr, whom thou lovest slightly less than thy main, and get thee into the land of Ebay; and offer him there for sale with a reserve price which I will tell thee of” then that would be alright.
about 3 years ago
That is one scary looking picture. At least the last pope didn’t wear a skin suit made of evil.
about 3 years ago
I’m more disturbed that he fails to note that the games he referrers to are aimed primarily at older audiences, and also fails to reference the many games that are aimed at the sort of behavior he wishes to encourage. It is the sort of shallow, uninformed view that all too many policymakers of older generations are prone to. Hopefully they will not do to much harm out of fear and ignorance before they pass their earthly power on.
about 3 years ago
lol religion am I rite guys?
about 3 years ago
I think you guys are oversimplifying the message. He said that a trend to promote anti-social behavior, etc is bad. Stands to reason that any trend to not promote anti-social behavior would be neutral, and any trend to discourage anti-social behavior would be good? I mean, he didn’t exactly write “games r bad k? lol”
about 3 years ago
Read the statement again- he doesn’t give any blanket condemnation of games or claim that they’re directed against kids.
He states, specifically that those who make video games “that exalt violent or promote anti-social behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality” is a perversion.
Now, to the alarmist lay person, you might say “but all games have violence so he hates all games.”
There is a very big difference between portraying- or even participating IN violence and glorifying it.
He goes on to QUALIFY that further, saying that it is “all the more repulsive when these programmes are directed at children and adolescents.”
He is NOT SAYING that, “Games are a perversion, they glorify violence, etc AND they’re directed at kids.”
He’s saying “WHEN games do X, they’re a perversion, made all the worse IF directed at kids.”
about 3 years ago
Was that ex cathedra? If so, i’m with Chas. Pope-speak has always needed the kind of attention to detail you need to give anything a lawyer says.
about 3 years ago
Yeah, old Papa Ratzi has been in a bad spot lately talking about anything other than Catholicism. There might even still be armed protests going on in the Muslim world about the Pope’s quotation of the ancient king who warned about Islam being religion by the sword.
about 3 years ago
Well I agree with both Chas and Scott. He’s not dissing all games, only the ones you might want to play. Those other games that no one wants to play are fine … really. Scott has it right though, the church needs to seriously address the issue of sexual exploitation of children within their own house before they can go finger pointing with any sort of authority at all.
about 3 years ago
I suggest a full read of the document. I think you’ll find everything there sums up to be much more pro-game-community than pro-Jack-Thompson-community.
I planned more for my own blog, but, by the numbered parts:
1) The media profoundly influences culture and cultural views.
2) You can look at how the media affects kids, and how kids are taught to respond appropriately to the media.
Parents, church, and school are responsible for the second part. The biggest responsibility falls on the parents, but the church should help.
Media education should focus on the positive and based on freedom and appreciation of the beauty, good, positive etc.
3. The media can help in their part by focusing on human dignity, etc. (the good) (NOTE: this can also include portraying the bad in a non-glorified manner or a manner that sparks constructive dialogue on an evil).
Media developers often face pressures to make better money by following “lower standards.” (originally cited example of gratituitous sex n violence was given here). That stuff is a perversion (read: sinful. don’t read: condemned to hell)
The church encourages devs to withstand those pressures and should develop programs to support people facing these challenges.
That’s about it, in a nutshell
about 3 years ago
For the matter of sexual exploitation: they are. Many of the cases today focus on decades-old incidents. In fact, we’re often still hearing about the same incidents and offenders that we have for years.
The Church has instituded a good deal (and plan more) in the form of seminary reform, oversight, and disciplinary processes. They’ve mandated “bad touch” education with parish kids to hopefully insure that any new cases will be brought to light QUICKLY.
This will alway be a black mark on the Church. There will always be that suspicion- have the reform worked or are they just better at hiding it?
They realize this. They also realize that there are still rogue priests out there- possibly in positions of authority- that may be just waiting for the storm to blow over.
about 3 years ago
correction: “they are” as in taking action… not “they are” as in sexually exploiting.
about 3 years ago
To add to what Chas mentioned – they are also mandating education (a seminar basically) for ANY adult, lay or otherwise, that lead up groups of kids (called “Protecting God’s Children” where I’ve seen it).
In addition to money pressures, I am also thinking of developers who push the envelope on taste (or just blow out the envelope altogether) in hopes that shock value will sell games where the content is crap.
about 3 years ago
Chas, I respectfully disagree with your assessment. I would agree that everything you said is true as far as it goes, however it presumes that the one making the statement is intimately familiar with the video games industry. I don’t think he does. I suspect he IS saying that “Games are a perversion, they glorify violence, etc AND they’re directed at kids”, if you presume his information about the video game industry is similar to that of most people who have never played a video game. Because those people don’t know that there are any games that don’t fit that description.
And even if he was making an IF…THEN statement, the people in the world that read it and do not already know about the video game industry won’t know that. They’ll read it as stating all games are that way, because again they don’t know there are games that aren’t. It’s not something anyone has ever told them. So even if his statement is meant the way you intended, then by not clarifying the alternate case it still has the same effect as if his statement was intentionally condeming all video games, developers, and gamers everywhere.
about 3 years ago
Violence is bad*
*(except when God says its ok)
Deuteronomy 20:10-17
“When you draw near a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if its answer to you is peace and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labour for you and shall serve you. But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it; and when the Lord your God gives it into your hand you shall put all its male to the sword, but the women and the little ones, the cattle, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemy, which the Lord God has given to you. Thus you shall do to all the cities which are far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. In the cities of these people that the Lord your God gives you an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes but you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amoriotes, the Canaanites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded.”
Apparently God hasnt whispered to the Pope that he likes video games yet.
about 3 years ago
Never “presume” anything about a speech made by a Pope. Just the facts, Jack.
about 3 years ago
@Paul:
1. Love the name.
2. That’s from Bible 1.4. Bible 2.x fixed all those dirty hacks in Bible 1.x involving smiting and exhortations to violence. 2.3 is particularly pacifistic.
about 3 years ago
Church 2.3 put in an anti-paedo exploit fix, but it turns out that the real problem was GM’s abusing their admin privileges.
about 3 years ago
Apparently the key words are lost on all the sites that are jumping on the bash-the-Pope bandwagon.
“exalt violence and portray anti-social behaviour or the trivialization of human sexuality”
The keywords are ‘exalt’ and ‘trivialization’ here.
The examples I used on [H] were Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. Both are violent. One paints violence as a great cool fun thing to do in the city.
Or, as I also noted, for those of us who are ancient: Choplifter as opposed to The Bilestoad.
about 3 years ago
@Amber:
SPOILER WARNING: God does not actually turn out to be in favor of child sacrifice.
about 3 years ago
Catholic-Fanboi much? Sheesh. Catholic condemnations aren’t usually about shades of grey.
For anyone interested in seeing some more open discussion from one of the aforementioned pedo-priests, check out the documentary “Deliver Us From Evil” by Amy Berg (2006).
about 3 years ago
Jayce,
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the Pope’s familiarity with games and the media. Ratzinger was a scholar- and not just on the arcane dialogue of missionaries with Saladin. Statements like these get more scholarly scrutiny than any white house press conference.
With that in mind, the main points of the paper that should be heartening to developers are:
1) Parents are responsible for educating kids about the media
2) Churches are responsible for helping in that education
3) Freedom should be the focus of that education
4) The church should support those that don’t “go down the low road” in the quest for profitability.
5) Exalting violence and depravity is a perversion
and really, most importantly:
6) Games are held in the same category of legitimacy as other media- television, radio, movies… heck, he even referenced literature as comparable media types. Haven’t we WANTED to be seen on that same level?
about 3 years ago
If he had that much information at hand and tha tmuch clarity on the issue to make the statements in the manner you say, then he also had a duty to make them clear to his audience. There is nothing in the statement that hints that the majority of games are not in face a celebration of violence and perversion. Part of his goal in a statement such as this should be – I would think – to make the issue clear along with the position statement.
Thus, either 1) he does not have the information you presume he does, 2) he does have the information but is making a sloppy statement (which you’ve intimated is impossible), or 3) he does have that information but is intentionally withholding it in order to muddy the issue for his followers. Of the three possibilities, the first seems most likely, but by your statements only the third could be true, and I find that one the most … disturbing.
about 3 years ago
Wow. I guess you didn’t bother to actually read what the Pope wrote. Either that or your anti-religious opinions blinded you to what he actually wrote.
That’s too bad. I have really enjoy your work, especially in DAoC. And, hey, it’s your blog. If you want to bash Catholics, that’s your business. But I would have thought you would have been intellectually honest about it. Saying that the Pope “dislikes video games” is grossly inaccurate.
about 3 years ago
TPRJones,
These letters convey a “continuation of dialogue” that extends for over forty years.
It’s intended to be a talking point and even cross-links to many points that stress this pro-media point of view.
Heck, the fact that it’s in preparation for friggin “World Media Day” where the Church celebrates the potential good that all mass communication media can bring kinda should set the tone.
Games weren’t intended to be more than a passing reference here. In doing so, he gave an example that games were included in the media and should be included in the pastoral ministries to support those facing “moral challenges” in developing them. In doing so, he cited an example on what would be such a moral issue facing developers.
It wasn’t an all-encompassing statement, and the “is a perversion” MEANS subverting something from the good- implying that there is a default “good” use that’s been taken away.
about 3 years ago
Nicely said Chas.
I think one of the challenges that the Pope faces is that he is an intellectual who is used to talking to grown ups who think beyond the buzz-word-sound-bite level. He’s used to ACTUAL toleration and debate, rather than the political correctness that passes itself off as “toleration” in America.
Apparently Scott’s idea of tolerance is that it’s all well and good until he thinks someone is going after one of his sacred cows. Then his perceived attacker must be a “tyrant.”
So… twist the message, run a bad picture and hope no one notices that you’re too lazy to actually read & understand the argument being made… much less actually refute it.
Oh.. yeah… toss in a irrelevant reference to pedophile priests. Forget the millions of people fed each day by the Church. Forget the millions who are lying right now in Catholic hospitals for free. Forget everything! 0.01% of priests are alleged to be pedophiles, so its ok to lie about what the Pope wrote and then bash him for it.
What sense does that make??